Posts Tagged ‘politics’

Hope For Our Future

May 24, 2020

. . . There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me. From the past will come the future; what it holds a mystery, Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.” Hymn of Promise, v. 2, Natalie Sleeth, 1986.

Lord God who knows our future, strengthen our hope in the unseen. (Romans 8:24; 2 Corinthians 4:18)

Guide us through these difficult days towards life and peace. (Romans 8:6)

Help us to persevere that we might know, and share, and build on your love. (Romans 5:1-5)

Help us rise above hate and fear, disrupting factions and finding a better way. (Galations 5:19-26)

Move us forward, O Lord.

Amen

Open Our Hearts

May 17, 2020

The waiting is the hardest part. – Tom Petty

Our world changed suddenly and now we wait

in our doubt,

in our grief,

in our loneliness

in our impatience,

in our fear.

Open our hearts O Lord that we might find hope, and comfort each other.

Give us the courage to speak up, reach out, and together build a stronger, more just, more compassionate world.

Help us as we begin to move forward, O Lord.

Amen

Open Our Eyes

May 9, 2020

“Open my eyes, that I might see glimpses of truth thou hast for me . . .”

Clara H. Scott, 1895; Open My Eyes That I May See, Chalice Hymnal, #586

With you Lord all things are possible (Mt. 19:26).

Please show us the possible in our broken world.

Show us the possible of a people-centered economy, the possible of rebuilding our communities, the possible of healing and caring for each other.

Show us the possible of a path to peace and the quieting of our partisan bickering. Show us the hope of a better future for all, O Lord.

Show us your ways, teach us your paths; guide us in your truth and teach us (Ps. 25:4-5).

Walk beside us through these difficult days.

Amen

Open Our Ears, That We Might Hear

May 3, 2020

“Break the bread of new creation where the world is still in pain. Tell its grim, demonic chorus “Christ is risen! Get you gone!” God the First and Last is with us. Sing Hosanna everyone.”

Brian Wren, 1986. Christ Is Risen! Shout Hosanna! Chalice Hymnal, #222.

For too long Lord, we have allowed ourselves to be misled by the grim demonic chorus emanating through all of our media and playing to our hates and our fears.

Open our ears that we might hear beyond the shouting, the sneers, the chatter, the dismissals, the deflections.

Help us to hear through the mendacity to find the truths that are aligned with your justice, your wisdom, your mercy.

Open our ears that we might listen for and find the voices of compassion, and knowledge and love.

Help us to hear your hope, your peace. And then help us to follow your word, O Lord.

Amen

Here To Guide Us

April 26, 2020

Christ is risen! Raise your spirits, from the caverns of despair. Walk with gladness in the morning. See what love can do and dare.”

Brian Wren, 1986. Christ Is Risen! Shout Hosanna! Chalice Hymnal, #222.

Lord support and guide us as we work to heal the sick, comfort the grieving, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, reach out to the lonely, and support the unemployed. Help us to think beyond our fears, find joy in those around us, and work for a more peaceful and prosperous world for all. Help us embrace and share the hope that flows from your love, O Lord. Amen

A Mighty Fortress

April 18, 2020

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, but there is one who takes our side, the one of God’s own choosing. You ask who that might be? Christ Jesus, it is he with mighty power to save, victorious over the grave, Christ will prevail triumphant! – A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, vs. 2

Lord help us through this troubled time. Help us to confront the evils of injustice, corruption, and denial that are present among us. Heal us, protect us, and guide us toward a more just, more merciful, more thoughtful, more caring world. Amen

Easter 2020

April 12, 2020

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Lord, this pandemic has revealed our many failings.

We relied on our own wisdom, made our own plans.

We worshiped money, celebrity, and power and went the wrong way.

We embraced the cynical voices of folly and mockery.

We denied the poor and dismissed the needs of many who we now call essential workers.

We repent and seek your forgiveness Lord, as we celebrate the promise of new life brought through your death and resurrection.

Resurrect in us humility, the love of others, and trust in you.

Show us the hope of a better way, and help us to follow.

Amen

Palm Sunday 2020

April 5, 2020

Hosanna! We praise your Holy Name.

Lord, you came to us not as a king but as a servant.

And showed us a way of mercy, of compassion, of healing from sin.

Forgive us for all the times we failed to heed your call.

Especially in these difficult times O Lord, remind us that there is life after death, and that evil can be overcome by good. (Romans 12:20).

Turn us O Lord, and guide us through that we may share your mercy and love, and rebuild our world so that all might thrive.

Amen

Trusting In God

March 29, 2020

God of light, eternal and bright shining, do not allow the noises and shadows of this fleeting world confuse us.” – Clare of Assisi (1194-1253)

Lord, as our routines are disrupted, our diversions disappear, and our futures grow increasingly uncertain, guide us through our fear, anger, and confusion.

Help us to trust in you.

As we sort through our media feeds, listen to the talking heads, and receive conflicting advice, focus us on what is true and hopeful and kind.

Give us a discerning spirit, O Lord.

As we seek to stay connected in community, help us find peace and comfort in what we can do and share, knowing that you walk closely with us in all things.

Help us to persevere, O Lord.

Amen

Coronavirus Continued

March 21, 2020

This prayer is by the Right Rev. Richard Bott of The United Church in Canada and being shared through various churches.

“In this time of COVID-19, we pray:

When we aren’t sure, God, help us be calm; when information comes from all sides, correct and not, help us to discern; when fear makes it hard to breathe, and anxiety seems to be the order of the day, slow us down, God; help us to reach out with our hearts, when we can’t touch with our hands; help us to be socially connected, when we have to be socially distant; help us to love as perfectly as we can, knowing that ‘perfect love casts out all fear.’

For the doctors, we pray, for the nurses, we pray, for the technicians and the janitors and the aides and the caregivers, we pray, for the researchers and theorists, the epidemiologists and investigators, for those who are sick, and those who are grieving, we pray, for all who are affected, all around the world…we pray for safety, for health for wholeness.

May we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked and house those without homes; may we walk with those who feel they are alone, and may we do all that we can to heal the sick—in spite of the epidemic, in spite of the fear.

Help us, O God, that we might help each other. In the love of the Creator, in the name of the Healer, in the life of the Holy Spirit that is in all and with all, we pray. May it be so.”

Amen